The best: International Women’s Day events coming to Manchester

Starting at Manchester Art Gallery, New Manchester Walks pay tribute to the city’s most influential and formidable women, including author Elizabeth Gaskell, suffragette Hannah Mitchell, politician Ellen Wilkinson, and writer Shelagh Delaney, among many others, on this walking tour through the city centre.

Manchester City Council have worked with a diverse range of women-led community organisations to put together an expansive day-long programme of interesting talks, interactive workshops, and music and dance performances on Sat 8 Mar.

Under the theme ‘Accelerate Action’, the Council will be calling on supporters of gender equality to act against the systemic barriers which all women face in their personal and professional lives.Manchester Central Library will host a variety of activities based on the acronym HER: Heal, Encourage, Revive.

Below are the activities planned:

Heal – Performance Space  

• Flourish Together; Mindfulness Activity for relaxation and meditation, 11am – 1pm 
• Equal Education Chances; letter writing and positive affirmations session, 11.20am – 12.15pm 

Encouraged – Performance Space 2 and 3  

• Community Thriving Together; sharing personal stories and overcoming challenges, 11am – 11.50am 
• Trailblazers; Creating bookmarks and stitching 
• Young Identity with Shirley May; poetry performance by Young Identity members, 11.55am – 12.15pm 
• Flourish Together; a 30-minute fireside chat chaired by Nickala Torkington about women changemakers, 12.20pm – 12.50pm

Revived – Performance Space 2 and 3  

• Bollyfit; an exercise class inspired by multicultural dance, 1pm – 1.30pm
• Councillor Ermina Bell will give a closing speech about the event, 1.35pm – 1.45pm 
•  DJ set to inspire and uplift

Glass Room/Sensory Space  

• Flourish Together; Bookable pop-up spa for treatments for 20 mins including Indian Head Massage in a clothed and seated setting, 11am – 2pm 

Explore the trailblazing lives of forgotten mid-Victorian female artists and writers in this talk by cultural historian Dr Debbie Challis. 

Beginning with an examination of the life, work, and reading habits of artist Ann Mary Severn Newton, Hidden in Print examines the varied lives of many professional women who resisted the restrictive gender norms of the era. 

The empowering talk is illustrated by books from The Portico’s wide-ranging collection of first editions by women writers of the 19th century.

This live event hosted by EMPOWER will be an evening of musical performance and thought-provoking conversation, celebrating female musicians in a field which is historically male-dominated.

EMPOWER’s discussion panel includes violinist Emily Davis, composer Florence Anna Maunders, cellist Peggy Nolan, and Rachel Williams, CEO of Streetwise Opera, who will talk about music’s power to facilitate collaboration, inspiration, and change.

Additionally, the evening will feature performances from a jazz quintet, a string quartet, and a new music scratch ensemble, as well as the Manchester premiere of Molly Arnuk’s Abstraction, which won the OpusHER award for emerging female composers – this event promises to be filled with artistry and creativity.

The Pankhurst Museum is offering free entry on Sun 9 Mar, giving visitors access to the birthplace of the suffragette movement.

The Grade II listed building became a historical site of women’s activism when Emmiline Pankhurst first gathered a group of women there to declare ‘Deeds Not Words’ on 10 Oct 1903, and it is currently the only UK museum dedicated to telling the story of Votes for Women.

The main exhibition, At Home with the Pankhurst Family, gives visitors the opportunity to explore the lives, influences, tragedies, and resourcefulness of the suffragette movement’s original campaigners.

Visitors can be inspired by sitting in the same parlour where Emmeline and her fellow activists first gathered to set up the Women’s Social & Political Union in 1903, and they can also learn about how demonstrators saved the Pankhurst from destruction in the 1970s.

Although entry is free, the museum welcomes donations to the Pankhurst Trust to help maintain the building as a heritage attraction.

The Stoller Hall marks the occasion with a night of incredible music dedicated to spotlighting the work of female composers and performers.

Illuminate will feature commissioned works from early-career women composers as well as historical pieces, all of which highlight the rich legacy of music written by women.

The Illuminate project was launched to promote the work of emerging women composers and performers, while also serving as a platform for historic catalogues. The initiative was set up by Dr Angela Elizabeth Slater in 2017, a freelance composer and a fierce advocate for the promotion of women’s music both past and present.

Continue the spirit of International Women’s Day throughout March with this thought-provoking talk held at The Portico Library. Illustrator Kate Greenaway’s literary legacy will be the subject of a feminist-themed discussion hosted by historian and librarian Dr Rose Roberto.

The Library Association’s Kate Greenaway Medal recognised high-quality illustrated children’s books for nearly seven decades until 2022, when her name was quietly replaced, leading to backlash from the literary field.

Dr Rose Roberto will discuss the widespread generational influence of Greenaway’s work, the influence of named literary prizes in the publishing industry, as well as the historic erasure of women’s legacies compared to their male counterparts.

Forming a key part of this year’s packed MACFEST programme, Dr Myriam Francois, an Irish-French writer, broadcaster, and documentary film director, leads a panel focused on advancing and celebrating Muslim women’s equality around the world.

The following day, also hosted as a free online session, young Muslim women from Manchester will share their stories and experiences of immigration and their lives in Britain. Nada Chefchaoui from Morocco, Maryam Solaiman from Egypt, Israa Altayeb from Sudan and Nora Aden from Somalia will all come together for the event, sharing their unique individual journeys, challenges and triumphs.